In 1911 Charles Hartless Usher, who was superintendent of the Lamb Knitting Machine Co. of Chicopee, Massachusetts, applied for US and Canada patents on a stop mechanism for metal planers. The Canada patent was issued later that year and the US patent was issued in 1912, by which time the device was being manufactured by the Lamb Knitting Machine Co. In 1913 the Usher Automatic Stop Co., based in Chicopee Falls, was established to take over manufacture.

In 1914 Usher patented an improved version of the stop, and by this time their Canadian market was being met by the Canadian branch of sporting goods manufacturer A. G. Spalding & Bros. It seems most likely that Spalding was simply acting as an agent for products manufactured by the Usher Automatic Stop Co., but either way it is surprising that a sporting goods manufacturer would be selling a machine tool accessory. Charles Usher, it turns out, had started has career as a machinist at A. G. Spalding and perhaps a personal connection to someone at Spalding led to this later relationship.

After the modest flurry of ads and articles between 1912 and 1914, mentions of Usher Automatic Stop Co. cease until a passing mention in a report from the Massachusetts Legislature: the Usher Automatic Stop Co. was formally dissolved in 1916.

Usher remained with the Lamb Knitting Machinery Co., and when that firm went bankrupt in 1930, Usher was part of a group that revived the business, with Usher becoming its new president. As of 2023 this incarnation, the Lamb Knitting Machine Corp., remains active in business.

Information Sources

• 1912-08-15 American Machinist page 289 has a nearly full-page article on the Usher Planer Stop. "It was designed by Charles H. Usher, superintendent of the Lamb Knitting Machinery Co., Chicopee Falls, Mass., and is being manufactured by them."
• July 1913 The Canadian Manufacturer notes that the Usher Automatic Stop Co. had issued a booklet describing the operation of the Usher Automatic Stop for planers and other machine tools.
• 1936 book Hampden County, 1636-1936 - Volume 3, page 463.

  Charles Hartless Usher was born in Coventry, Connecticut, June 23, 1871, the son of Hartless S. and Caroline L. (Chappell) Usher. His father engaged in farming in his native State. The Usher family trace their American ancestry to Hezakiah and Robert Usher, brothers, who came to this country from England and settled in the town of Boston in 1838.

  Mr. Usher received a general education in the public schools of his native community and, after completing his studies, became associated with A. G. Spalding and Company as a machinist. It was with this organization that he was first to display an aptitude for the mechanical field that was to win him recognition. In 1900 he joined the Lamb Knitting Machinery Company and four years after entering this concern was appointed foreman of the knitting machine department. He advanced steadily and soon was placed in charge of all experimental work for this plant, a position that gave him his first really big opportunity to display his inventive abilities. During this period he made many important and lasting improvements on the machinery used by the knitting trade and was also responsible for producing the Usher Automatic Planer Stop and the Usher Universal Rim Tool, an accessory that has come into general use throughout the automotive industry.

  Following the insolvency of the old Lamb Knitting Company in 1930, Mr. Usher together with F. C. Burnett, S. W. Wright and Nelson R. Galarneau, took over he concern and reorganized under the firm name of the Lamb Knitting Machine Corporation which he heads today as president. Under his able and careful leadership the products of this firm enjoy an outstanding reputation at home and abroad...